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Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organises closing ceremony of the International Year of Millets | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organises closing ceremony of the International Year of Millets

Posted 01 Apr 2024

2 min read

  • The event highlighted the importance of millets in achieving sustainable development goals and its emergence as a ‘Global Superfood’.
    • India had proposed to the United Nations to declare the year 2023 as IYM.

 

  • About Millets
    • Indian millets are a group of nutritiously rich, drought tolerant and mostly grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of India
    • Also known as "coarse cereals" or "cereals of the poor"  and  are nutritionally superior to wheat and rice 
    • India is the largest producer of millet, followed by Niger and China.

 

  • Significance
    • Highly adaptive to a wide range of ecological conditions 
    • Millets have low Glycemic Index (GI) thus helpful in the prevention of diabetes
    • Good sources of minerals like iron, zinc, and calcium and are gluten-free
    • Reduces the carbon footprint

 

  • India's initiatives to promote millets
    • The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has implemented the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for the Food Processing Industry for Millet-based products (PLISMBP) during 2022-23 to 2026-27 with an outlay of Rs. 800 crores.
    • Millets are included under the Poshan Abhiyan of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. 
    • An Export Promotion Forum dedicated to promotion in the international market has been set up.

 

About FAO

  • Genesis: Established in 1945
  • It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
  • Members: 195 members - 194 countries (Including Indiaand the European Union 
  • Reports released by FAO
    • The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security
    • State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) Report 2023
  • Tags :
  • Millets
  • international year of Millet
  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
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